Traveling cleaner for textile machines



y 1959 A. H. BAHNSON, JR 2,886,843

TRAVELING CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed June 20, 1957 3Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR Agnew H. Bahnson, Jr.

FWJ NFY WW ATTORNEYS May 19, 1959 A. H. BAHNSON, JR

TRAVELING CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINES s Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 20,1957 Agnw H. BahnsonJr BYfi I JW 2 1" ORNEYS ay 119, 1959 'A. H.BAHNSON, JR 2,885,843

TRAVELING CLEANER FOR TEXTILE MACHINES Filed June 20, 195'? 3Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Agnew H BGJIJISOHJJI".

BYPMJJW 29 WW ATTORNEYS over the heads of the spinners.

the frame.

Unite 2,886,843 Patented May 19, 1959 TRAVELING CLEANER FOR TEXTILEMACHINES Agnew H. Bahnson, Jr., Winston-Salem, N.C.

Application June 20, 1957, Serial No. 666,860

7 Claims. (Cl. 15-312) This invention relates to traveling cleaners ofthe air blast type and in particular to cleaners adapted to travel alongtextile machines such as spinning and drawing frames and the like forblowing off lint and other particles so as to prevent its accumulationon the surfaces of the frames. The cleaners are usually arranged totravel longitudinally of the frames at a level above the creel boardsand this is usually high enough to pass safely However, with cleanersthat have been heretofore designed the air blasts delivered by themdownwardly against the frames have been unable to reach effectively intothe lower portions of the frames. Consequently, it has been proposed touse a separate cleaner adapted to travel back and forth within theunderframe. Another proposal has been to attach elongated air ducts tothe overhead cleaner which extend downwardly at opposite sides of thecleaner, these ducts or trunks reaching almost to the floor andincluding air outlets directed inwardly towards the lower portions ofThe one disadvantage of these trunks is that they reach into the aisleitself between adjacent rows of frames and hence may strike against anyobstruction,

there such as a cart or even a spinner or other personnel that may bestanding in the aisle and fail to see the cleaner as it approaches. Thusthere is danger of damage to equipment or injury to personnel. Toovercome this difliculty, it has been proposed to make the depending airtrunks of flexible material such as rubber thus permitting the trunk toyield when it strikes any obstruction in its path. This is not entirelysatisfactory since the trunks may hang on an obstruction and possiblytear.

In accordance with the present invention, damage to equipment or injuryto personnel is prevented by stopping the cleaner as soon as thedepending air trunk strikes any the obstruction has been removed fromthe path of the obstruction and by restarting it automatically as soonas trunk. I

More specifically, the traveling cleaner includes a selfpropelledcarriage supporting the blower units which establishthe air blasts, thecarriage being propelled by an electric motor. The depending air trunkis pivotally mounted to hang vertically so that as soon as it comes upagainst any obstruction it will swing about its pivoted support and thismovement of the trunk serves to actuate switching means arranged in thecontrol circuit of the motor which results in braking the carriage to ahalt. As soon as the obstruction is removed and the trunk returns to avertical position, the motor for propelling the carriage isautomatically re-started in the same direction.

The invention will become more apparent from the following detaileddescription of two practical embodiments thereof and the accompanyingdrawings which illustrate them. In these drawings:

Fig. 1 is an end elevation of a traveling cleaner incorporating theinvention with certain parts broken .away

a larger scale of the upper, pivoted portion of the air trunk showingthe trunk in its normal vertical position;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but taken at a right angle thereto;

Figs. 5 and 6 are views similar to Fig. 3 but showing the trunk in twopositions after striking an obstruction;

Fig. 7 is a central longitudinal fragmentary section of the carriagemember of the cleaner drawn to an enlarged scale and showing the tractormotor for propelling the cleaner along the overhead trackway and themotor for rotating the scrolls and nozzles on the two outboardcentrifugal blowers;

Fig. 8 is a circuit diagram showing the manner in which the variousmotors including the traction motor are controlled in accordance withthe angular position of the trunk; and

Fig. 9 is another circuit diagram similar to Fig. 8 but related to amodified embodiment for braking the traction motor and carriage to astandstill when the trunk strikes any obstruction in its path.

With reference now to the drawings, 1 represents the end of a textileprocessing machine such asa spinning frame having a creel board support2, upper and lower creel boards 3, 4, a roll stand 5 extendinglongitudinally of the machine at each side thereof, spinning bobbins 6roving bobbins 7 and a series of upstanding longitudinally spacedsupports 8 for the track rails 9.

The traveling cleaner can be of various general designs and in thepresent embodiment is shown to include a selfpropelled carriage 10which, as indicated in Fig. 7, mounts a motor 11 that transmits itspower through a reduction gearing to traction wheels 12 that run onrails 9. In the illustrated embodiments, motor 11 is of the reversible,three phase type and is energized via three conductor rails and pick-upshoes on the carriage, the conductor rails (not shown) extending alongthe track rails 9 as is conventional for overhead traveling cleaners,and the three phase power supply at 220 volts, cycles being applied tothe conductor rails.

Extending laterally outward from each side of the carriage 10 aresupport rods 13 and secured to the outer end of each of the rods 13 is adual blower unit 14 of the centrifugal type. Each dual blower unit 14includes a casing 15, a double-ended driving motor 16 connected tocentrifugal impellers 17, 17' and scrolls 18, 18 surroundto blow thelint off the upper portions of the machine 1 and each of these twoscrolls 18 is arranged to be rotated about its axis by means of a drivechain 20, sprocket 21, bevelled gearing 22 and a drive shaft 23 whichextends into the carriage 10 and is driven by another motor 24, see Fig.7, mounted on the carriage. Thus as motor 24 drives the shafts 23, thescrolls 18 and their air outlet nozzles 19, 19 will be rotated in thedirections indicated in Fig. 1 and thereby direct blasts of air inwardlyagainst theroving bobbins 7, creelboards 3 and 4 and roll stands 5.

' Also, by rotating the scrolls 18, the blasts of air will also stands 5upward, they do not reach into the so-called underfrarne portion belowthe roll stands 5. In order to satisfactorily blow off this portion ofthe frame, each of the scrolls 18, which is stationary, is arranged witha vertical tangential outlet duct 25 and the air stream produced by therotating impeller 17 passes downwardly through duct 25 into a normallyvertically disposed tubular trunk 26 which reaches almost to the floor27. The trunks 26 are closed at the bottom and include a row ofvertically spaced air outlets 28 at the inner sides thereof, i.e. in thedirection of the machine 1, and air streams issuing from the outlets 28are directed to the lower portions of the machine such as the spinningbobbins 6 and other parts of the machine below the roll stands 5.

The blower units 14 are located at a level above the heads of thespinners and hence are able to travel above and along the rows of themachines 1 without interference. However, when the depending trunks 26are added to the blower units, these trunks may reach almost to thefloor and hence are liable to strike and injure the spinners who operatein the aisles between adjacent rows of machines. Also, the trunks maystrike any other obstruction that may happen to be in the aisle such asa cart or the like. As indicated in the introductory portion of thisdescription, one proposed solution for preventing injury to personnel ordamage to equipment is to make the elongated duct or trunk from a highlyflexible material such as rubber thus enabling the trunk to yield as itstrikes an obstruction in its path. In accordance with the presentinventive concept, the carriage is braked to a standstill as soon as thetrunk strikes any object and is automatically re-started in the samedirection as soon as the obstruction is removed. In a preferredembodiment, the depending trunk is made rigid in a longitudinaldirection and mounted on the tangential outlet duct 25 for pivotalmovement on the horizontal axis transverse to the rails 9, i.e.transverse to the direction of travel of the carriage 10. Should eitherof the rigid trunks strike any obstruction it will be moved about itspivotal support from its normal vertical attitude and this movementserves to brake the carriage to a stop. As soon as the obstruction isremoved the carriage restarts itself in the same direction.

With reference now to Figs. 36, it will be seen that each trunk isprovided at its upper end with upstanding ears 30, 30 at opposite sidesthereof which are pivotally mounted upon horizontal stub shafts 31, 31extending transverse to the direction of travel of the trunk 26. Mountedrotationally upon stub shaft 31 are two arms These arms includehorizontal projections 33, 33' in alignment and which at their outerends are provided with pins 34, 34 which form the anchoring points foropposite ends of a helical loading spring 35. Between the arms 32, 32'are two horizontal studs 36, 37 normally aligned vertically and inspaced relation. The lowermost of the two, i.e. stud 36 projectstransversely outward from the upper end of the ear 30 and the uppermoststud 37 which is stationary projects transversely outward, and parallelwith stud 36, from the side wall of duct 25. The spring 35 thus drawsthe upper ends of arms 32, 32' together against the fixed stud 37 andhence also against the stud 36 thus holding the latter in verticalalignment with stud 37 and hence normally holding the trunk 26 in avertical attitude.

To prevent loss of air where the duct 25 joins the trunk 26, a rubberboot or sleeve 38 is used at the junction.

Moreover, to prevent the trunk 26 from returning too quickly to itsvertical position once the obstruction has been removed, it is preferredto use a pneumatic singleacting check device at each side of the trunk.As seen in Fig. 3, each check device includes a cylinder 40 and piston41 connected to a piston rod 42. The cylinder is connected to the-sideof the air duct 25 by a bracket 43 and the piston rod 42 is connected tothe corresponding side of trunk 26 by means of a bracket 44.Consequently, as the trunk 26 is moved in one direction or the otherfrom vertical upon striking an obstruction, one of the pistons 41 ispushed into its cylinder 40 and the other piston 41 is simultaneouslypulled out of its cylinder 40.

When the obstruction is removed, thus permitting the trunk 26 to moveback to vertical, the piston 41 which had been pulled out of itscylinder 40 now is slowed pneumatically as it returns thuscorrespondingly slowing the vertical recovery movement of the trunk 26.The reason for providing this pneumatic check on the recovery movementis to prevent too quick an automatic restarting of the carriage 10 thusmaking it certain that the obstruction such as a spinner will have beencleared entirely out of the path of the trunk before it again starts tomove.

It will be seen from Fig. 3 that the trunk 26 vertical, the upper endsof the arms 32, 32' cooperate to hold up the rounded end of a switchoperator 45 for the contacts of a switch 46 mounted pivotally on duct 25by means of a stud 47. In the raised position shown in Fig. 3, thecontacts of switch 46 are closed. It will be remembered that each of theblower units 14 has a trunk 26. Consequently there are two of theswitches 46 in the control circuit to be described. In addition to theswitch 46, there are two other switches 48, 49 associated with eachtrunk. These are mounted on the duct 25 at opposite sides thereof andeach switch includes a contact operator 50 and a supporting leaf spring51 which lies in the path of the lateral extension 33 or 33' of the arms32 or 32. In the normal vertical position of the trunk, the contacts ofthe switches 48, 49 are closed but as one trunk or the other strikes anyobstruction causing the trunk to tilt in one direction or the other fromvertical, one or the other of the switch operators 50 will be actuatedinwardly as shown in Fig. 6 thus opening the switch contacts and henceopening the circuit through the switch.

The details of the control circuit are shown in Fig. 8. Here it will beseen that the 220 volt, 3 phase power supply is indicated by lines A, Band C. Included in the circuit are the switches 46 for the two trunksarranged in series with and controlling the energization of the solenoid 52 of two pole relay R1. Also included are the two switches, 48, 49for each trunk and these four switches are likewise arranged in serieswith and control energization of the solenoids 53, 54 of a pair of threepole relays R2 and R3.

The normally closed positions of the contacts of the six switches 46,46, 48, 48 and 49, 49, i.e. when the two trunks 26 are vertical, areindicated by the solid line positions of the switch blades, and the openpositions of the switch contacts are indicated by the broken linepositions of the blades. The circuit is completed by another two polerelay R4 with its solenoid 55, a reversing switch 56 which normallydetermines the running direction of the traction motor 11 and carriage10 along the trackway 9, and an overload switch 57 individual to andassociated in the energizing circuit of each of the impeller motors 16,16, the scroll driving motor 24 and the traction motor 11. When thesolenoids of the various relays R1 and R4 are unenergized, the contactoperator positions are indicated by solid lines and when energized, thecontact operator positions are indicated by the broken lines. Thereversing switch 56 will normally stay in one position if the cleanernormally travels in the same direction around a closed or loop type oftrackway in the spinning room so as to serve several rows of machines inthe spinning room, or it will be periodically moved to one position andthen the other as the cleaner reaches the opposite ends. of a row ofmachines when the cleaner has a reciprocating motion over a single row.

During normal operations, switches 46, 48 and 49 are all closed, relaysR1 and R4 are energized, either relay R2 or R3 is energized dependingupon the position of switch 56 and the circuits from the three phasepower supply A, B, C to the motors 16, 16, 24 and 11 are completedthrough the overload relays 57. In addition, the energizing circuit formotor 11 also passes through the contacts of relay R2 or R3.Consequently, the cleaner moves along the trackway 9 blowing the lintoff the ceiling as well as all parts of the machine.

More particularly, with switches 46, 46 closed, solenoid 52 of relay R1is energized between lines A and C of the power supply. This closesrelay contacts 52a, 52b. Closure of relay contact 52a completes theenergizing circuit for solenoid 55 of relay R4 between lines A and C ofthe power supply. Closure of contacts 55a on relay R4 completes aholding circuit for the solenoid 55 which passes through the four closedswitches 48, 49 in series and through the normally closed contacts 57ain the four overload switches 57 to the line C thus bypassing the relaycontacts 52a. Closure of contact 52b completes an energizing circuitfrom line A through contact 56a of switch 56 to one terminal of solenoid53 of relay R2 and from the other terminal through closed relay contacts55b of relay R4 and switches 48, 49 and the closed contacts 57a of theoverload relays 57 to line C. Energization of relay R2 closes its relaycontacts 53a, 53b and 53c thus completing the energizing circuit betweenthe traction motor 11 and the power supply conductors A, B and C. If theswitch 56 is in the position indicated by broken lines, relay R2 remainsdeenergized and the solenoid 54 of relay R3 becomes energized since theconnection from conductor A is made through contact 5612. This causesrelay R3 to pull in and likewise complete the energizing circuit fortraction motor 11 through its contacts 54a, 54b and 54c but with two ofthe conductors B and C reversed so that the motor 11 runs in theopposite direction.

Should either of the trunks 26 now strike any obstruction in its path ofmovement along the frame, the trunk aflected will be caused to movepivotally about its support as a result of the continued movement of thecarriage in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 5. Stud 36 moveswith the trunk and rocks arm 32 clockwise to release the nose fromsupport of the switch contact operator 45 after the trunk has movedabout 3. Switch operator 45 is now permitted to drop to the positionshown in Fig. 5 thus opening the contacts of one of the switches 46 andhence also the energizing circuit to solenoid 52 of relay R1. As relayR1 becomes deenergized, its contact 52b opens thus deenergizing solenoid53 of relay R2. Contact 520 of relay R1, however, closes and thuscompletes through contact 56c the energizing circuit to solenoid 54 ofrelay R3. The result is to reverse the direction of rotation of tractionmotor 11 and hence the carriage drive wheels 12. However, due tomomentum of the carriage, the latter does not come to an instantaneousstandstill but rather is braked abruptly by the reversely rotatingwheels 12. Relay R4 is not deenergized at this time by the opening ofrelay contact 52:: because of the holding circuit completed throughcontacts 55a. This holding circuit is broken later as switch 49 opens.

When the trunk 26 reaches the angular position shown in Fig. 6, about 10from vertical, switch 49 is actuated by the arm extension 33 thusopening the circuit from conductor C to the common connection to oneterminal of the solenoids 53, 54 of relay R2 and R3. Relay R3 which hadbeen energized drops out thus disconnecting the traction motor 11 fromthe line conductors A, B, C. The carriage 10 will now have been broughtto a stop and will remain stopped until the obstruction is removed. Atthis time all relays R1, R2, R3 and R4 are deenergized.

When the obstruction is removed and the trunk 26 has slowly swung backto its vertical position because of the pneumatic checking device 40,switches 49 and 46 will be reclosed, thus reenergizing relays R1, R2 andR4 to restart the traction motor and carriage in its original direction.

The same operational sequence will take place if the carriage istraveling in the opposite direction and strikes an obstruction exceptthat arm 32 will be rotated as the 6 t trunk pivots in the oppositedirection to let the switch operator 45 drop and switch 48 will beactuated instead of switch 49.

In the embodiment which has been described, the carriage 10 is braked toa standstill by reversing the wheels 12. Another practical way in whichto brake the carriage 10 is to open the traction motor circuit andsimultaneously apply a brake. An arrangement for doing this is shown inthe partial circuit diagram of Fig. 9. There it will be seen that thetraction motor 11 is supplied with its 3 phase power through two-poleswitches 61, 61 connected in series in the leads from two of the threesupply conductors. These switches correspondto switches 46, 46 inlocation and function. Consequently, as soon as one of the trunks 26strikes an obstruction and swings about its pivot axis, the appertainingswitch 61 opens its contacts thus cutting oil the current to tractionmotor 11'. Included with the motor 11 is a magnetic braking device 63which applies a braking effectto the motor shaft as soon as theenergizing circuit to the motor is interrupted. The braking principleper se is not part of the present invention and hence has not beenillustrated since various types are commercially available. In general,these include a spring loaded braking member operable on the motor shaftas soon as the motor current is interrupted. Release of the brake isobtained magnetically when the motor current is reapplied. Consequently,in principle, the control systems of Figs. 8 and 9 are alike. That is tosay, whenever one of the trunks 26 strikes an obstruction and is causedto pivot, the carriage 10 is brought to a standstill by application of abraking force. As soon as the obstruction is removed and the trunkreturns to its normal vertical position, the carriage 10 isautomatically restarted in the same direction.

In conclusion it is to be understood that various changes may be made inthe embodiments which have been described and illustrated without,however, departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedin the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A traveling cleaner for textile machines comprising a motor drivencarriage supported for longitudinal movement along the machine at alevel above the machine, a blower unit on said carriage, an air trunk,movable relative to said carriage, extending from said blower unitdownwardly along the side of said machine, means responsive to andactuated by movement of said trunk upon striking any obstruction in thepath of movement thereof for braking said carriage to a standstill, andmeans responsive upon restoration of said trunk to its original positionupon removal of the obstruction for restarting said carriage in the samedirection.

2. A traveling cleaner for textile machines comprising a motor drivencarriage supported for longitudinal movement along the machine at alevel above the machine, a blower unit on said carriage, an air trunkextending from said blower unit downwardly along the side of saidmachine, said trunk being pivotally supported for pivotal movement inits plane of travel upon striking any obstruction in its path, meansactuated upon pivotal movement of said trunk in response to striking anobstruction for braking said carriage to a standstill at the obstructionand means responsive to restoration of said trunk to its originalposition for restarting said carriage in the same direction.

3. A traveling cleaner for textile machines comprising a motor drivencarriage supported for longitudinal move ment along the machine at alevel above the machine, a blower unit on said carriage, an air trunkextending from said blower unit downwardly along the side of saidmachine, said trunk being pivotally supported for pivotal movement inits plane of travel upon striking any obstruction in its path, switchmeans responsive to and actuated by pivotal movement of said trunk uponstriking J an obstruction for braking said carriage to a standstill atthe obstruction and deenergizing said carriage motor and forreenergizing said carriage motor in the same direction upon removal ofthe obstruction and restoration of said trunk to its original position.

4.A traveling cleaner as defined in claim 3 wherein said switch meansincludes one switch actuated by an initial pivotal movement of saidtrunk in either direction to reverse said carriage motor and a secondswitch actuated upon further movement of said trunk to de energize saidcarriage motor.

5. A traveling cleaner as defined in claim 3 and which further includesa motor checking device retarding return movement of said trunk to itsnormal vertical position.

6. A traveling cleaner as defined in claim 3 wherein said switch meansfunctions to deenergize said carriage motor and simultaneously apply abraking force to said carriage as said trunk is moved from its normalvertical position and vice versa.

7. A traveling cleaner as defined in claim 3 wherein said switch meansare actuated by pivotal movement of said trunk in either direction fromits normally vertical position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHERREFERENCES Textile World, March 1957, advertisement by Parks- Cramer,page 91.

mmrnn STATES PATENT OFFICE EETIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent Nou 2,886,843May 19, 1959 Agnew H. Bahneon, Jr,

or appears in the -printed specification It is hereby certified that errng correction and that the said Letters of the above numbered patentrequiri Patent should read as corrected below.

Column '7, line 13, for "a motor checking" read a motion checking Signedand sealed this 29th day of September 1.959o

(SEAL) Attest:

KARL Hg AYLINE Attesting Officer ROBERT C. WATSON Commissioner ofPatents

